


How Sam Lost His Hearing And The Part Campbell Played

by Morally_Ambiguous



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Deaf Character, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Supportive Becca, Upset Sam, but its all okay, but they will, campbell is despicable, cassandra is dead, early season, everything works out, gordie is depressed and awkward, grizz loves sam, how dare he hurt sam, only slightly, psychopath campbell eliot, sam and grizz fight, sam loves grizz, sam needs to be protected, they just haven't confessed yet, upset grizz, will and allie are okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 08:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18989122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morally_Ambiguous/pseuds/Morally_Ambiguous
Summary: Campbell's diagnosis isn't the only secret Sam told the group that day.What if there was something else that no-one but Sam knew, not even his family.What if Sam's sickness wasn't the full reason for his hearing loss.After all this time, Sam finally lets the cat out of the bag and tells the truthHow did he become deaf?





	How Sam Lost His Hearing And The Part Campbell Played

**Author's Note:**

> This may not be my first fanfiction but it will definitely be my first Society one and my first one uploaded to here. This has not been beta'd so I'm sorry for any mistakes I may make. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this and like the concept that I have written about. Developed the idea from a Tumblr post by sweetsarah04. Be sure to check them out, they have some pretty awesome posts.

"But Campbell is not a normal version of anything," Becca whispered, translating Sam's sign. She swallowed before continuing, already reading Sam's hands as they flew through ASL.

"They had him tested- he's a psychopath..." Her voice trailed off.

"F-fuck," Grizz muttered, his eyes glazing over with unshed tears. Everyone shifted, tension settling over the group. Allie's gaze dropped to the floor and she shuffled her feet where she stood in the doorway. Sam raised his hands to sign but dropped them, deciding to speak directly to them.

“You have to understand,” he mumbles, his voice strained, ”he doesn’t think as we do, feel like we do.” At this point, the tears he had been holding back began to spill down his cheeks,

“He has no guilt, no empathy. He can mimic that stuff but he can’t actually feel it.” Will’s face hardened and he looked up to meet Sam’s eyes,

“Are you saying he killed Cassandra?” It was then that Allie’s composure fell and her own tears fell, Sam hesitated before speaking, his hands twitching to sign despite there being no need to.

“I don’t know,” he answered, his voice hitching, ”I just know that he’s a monster and we’re locked up in a room with him…” Bean leaned back from her position next to Sam, and Becca reached forward to hold Sam’s hands. Allie reached up to wipe away her tears and turned to leave the room, but before she could, Becca spoke up,

“What is it, Sam?” That caught everyone’s attention and Allie stopped to look back.

“There’s something else that I haven’t told you,” he muttered.

“Sam, you don’t have to-” Becca started before Sam pulled his hands away to sign. His hands began to fly as he mimed the words and Becca translated,

“There’s something that happened that even my parents don’t know about, and I barely remember it myself,” This confused Allie and she moved to sit beside Will to listen.

“When I was four,” Becca started, “and I got sick, I only had mild meningitis which could be easily treated once diagnosed.” She paused as Sam did.

“At first my parents didn’t realise what I had, it seemed like the flu, so they took me to the hospital for a check-up.” The group looked at Sam confused as to where the story was going, especially Allie who was aware of Sam’s medical history.

“The doctors decided to keep me in the hospital for a while when they knew I had meningitis so that they could ensure I made a full recovery.” This caught everyone’s attention.

“Then how did you-” Grizz started before stopping himself, “Sorry, that’s insensitive of me…”

“That’s okay,” Becca said for Sam, “That’s what I want to explain.”

“While I was at the hospital I began to recover without any complications, but one night Campbell came to visit and we were left alone unsupervised. I’m not quite sure what happened, but my condition worsened,” Here Becca began to slow her speech as she understood what Sam was signing to her,

“And I had a seizure.” The room silenced and all eyes were now on Sam, wide and concerned,

“What?” Allie whispered and signed to Sam,

“A seizure?” Sam nodded, his eyes raking over each person’s face to gauge their reactions. Will’s face is expressionless but Sam spotted a comforting hand rubbing Allie’s back. As his gaze trailed to Grizz, he was taken aback by the sheer grief and hurt on his face. His once dried tears were now freely flowing. Gordie leaned forward, his hands clasped together in his lap.

“What does Campbell have to do with this?” He asked cautiously, almost as though he knew what was coming next. They all looked back to Sam to wait for his response and Becca’s translation.

“I can just about remember the seizure, how it felt, what happened while I seized, and what Campbell did.” Becca continued,

“He locked the door and stood at the foot of my bed, watching me…”

“He didn’t help, he didn’t call out, he just watched.” Becca released a shaky breath, “He started to hide my medicine and would stop me from taking it. My condition became critical after that and my sickness became life-threatening.” Sam paused in signing and then spoke his final sentence himself, his face blank,

“My heart stopped, I almost died.” By then Will had paused in comforting Allie, and the entire room’s eyes were wide and on him.

“Sam,” Allie started, “I had no idea it got so bad.” She stood and walked over to kneel before Sam and hold his hand, Becca copying her movements.

“How? How did I not know?” Allie asked, to herself almost.

“Only Campbell and I know what happened,” he murmured as loud as he could with his strained voice.

“I’ll kill him,” came an unexpected voice.

Everyone’s heads whipped to the corner of the room to Grizz whose hands were clenched so tight that his knuckles had turned white,

“I swear to God I will.”

“Grizz…” Sam whispered, touched and yet concerned. Gordie sighed,

“You can’t just kill him Grizz,”

“Try and stop me.” He said, his face nothing but silent rage,

“He could’ve killed Sam, he almost did!” He yelled getting to his feet and lifting his hands to run them through his loose hair. Bean who had yet to speak simply stood and left the room unable to handle the yelling. Gordie released a second sigh and copied Grizz in ruffling his hair. Allie and Becca’s grip on Sam’s hands tightened slightly as if they were afraid he’d disappear.

“It’s okay Grizz,” Sam said staring straight into Grizz’s eyes, “I’m alive and I’m okay.”

“No, it’s not okay!” Grizz answered, tears gathering for the umpteenth time,

“He stole your hearing from you!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Sam yelled, his words slurred. He pulled his hands out of Becca and Allie’s and began to swiftly sign, standing as he did.

“Don’t you think I’m angry at him?! Do you think I wanted to be deaf or that I like it!!” Grizz almost took a step back, surprised at hearing Sam shout and the pure desperation in his voice,

“I hate having to miss out on everything! I hate that I have never heard my best friends voice and that I will never be able to! And I hate that I’m not normal but that’s my life now!” A pregnant stillness came over them, Sam’s laboured breathing the only sound.

“I’m sorry,” Sam whispered meekly while signing, “I didn’t mean to yell.”

It was then that the floodgates broke and he dropped to his knees in tears, years of self-hatred and repressed anger flowing out. Becca was next to him in an instant, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close as he wept into the crease of her neck. Any fight that Sam once had left and he slumped into Becca’s embrace, his eyes squeezed shut and hands clutching at the back of her shirt.

The others in the room watched the heart-wrenching scene unfold, their own tears surfacing as Sam’s breath hiccuped. Allie’s hands shook as she stood and moved to sit on Will’s lap hugging him and turning her face into his chest, unable to bear seeing her cousin in such pain.

Soon his cries ceased and he had fallen asleep in Becca’s arms, his face smeared with tear-tracks and his eyes rimmed red. Becca leaned back slightly to gently kiss his lightly freckled forehead before running her fingers through his short ginger-brown locks. She cleared her throat before turning to face Grizz.

“Grizz, can you take him up to our room?” She asked as she continued stroking Sam’s hair.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Grizz said stumbling over his words but leaning down nonetheless and picking Sam up bridal style. As he stood, he cradled Sam close to his chest, resting the boy’s face against his shoulder. Becca stood as well and indicated to Grizz to follow her upstairs. As they left, the others in the room turned to each other and released a collective breath. Will had his arms around Allie and she was leaning into his touch while Gordie sat quietly opposite them.

“So,” he said, unsure how to start, “Where do we go from here?”

Allie sat forward so that she was held loosely in Will’s grip.

“Honestly?” She asked rhetorically despite Gordie’s nod, “I have no idea, I just know that we should let Sam sleep and we can sort all of this out later.”

When she stopped speaking, Gordie took it as his queue to leave and walked out of the room mumbling a quiet ‘night’ as he passed them. Allie released a deep sigh and dropped her head into her hands, exhausted from the day's events.

“Well shit,” Will said, leaning back in the armchair and folding his arms behind his head.

“Yeah,” She murmured, “just… yeah.”

They sat in uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours mulling over the newly released information until their eyelids became heavy and they fell asleep draped across each other on the too small chair.

 

* * *

 

Grizz plodded up the stairs, Sam held tightly in his hold and Becca’s light footsteps trailing ahead of him. He followed her as she navigated the halls before pausing outside a room that he assumed they shared. A double bed sat centrally in the room, easily large enough for two to three people to sleep on despite the remnants of a makeshift sleeping bag on the floor beside it. Becca must have seen his quizzical stare because out of nowhere she said,

“I’ve offered him to share the bed but he’s too polite to take up the offer.” A small smile had now graced her lips as she remembered Sam’s insistence that she take the bed for herself.

“So, uh, where should I, um, put him?” Grizz asked awkwardly, shuffling his feet.

“You can put him on the left side since I sleep on the right,” Grizz nodded in response and moved to lay him down with Becca assisting by pulling back the covers and re-organising the pillows. As Grizz bent over to set him on the bed, he realised that Sam was pulling on his West Ham letterman jacket and didn’t seem to be letting go anytime soon. He gave a chuffed laugh of amusement and quickly stripped his jacket to drape it over the boy’s lithe shoulders.

“Sorry about him,” Becca said, bemused at her best friend’s unusual behaviour.

“Nah it’s okay, I don’t need it, he can look after it for me,” Grizz’s gaze lingered on Sam’s freckled face and on reflex he reached down to swipe at his cheeks, drying the tears from his pale face.

“He doesn’t hate you, y’know,” Becca stepped forward to rest her hand on Grizz’s now bare forearm,

“And he didn’t mean what he said, his situation’s just-” She paused unsure of how to explain it.

“Complicated?” Grizz supplied for her despite his eyes remaining on the sleeping boy before him. He released a shaky breath and carefully bent back down to place a kiss atop Sam’s mussed hair as his hand continued to caress his cheek.

“I understand,” He added strained and blinking away the dampness he could feel gathering in the corner of his eyes. A creak came from outside the room as someone walked upstairs making Grizz pull back sharply, still having yet to meet Becca’s eyes. As he saw Gordie pass the doorway and enter his own room, Grizz decided that he had overstepped the boundaries and swiftly turned to leave, mumbling some form of an excuse for his retreat.

“I’m just gonna, uh, go. I’ll, um, yeah, goodnight Becca,”

“Grizz.” She interrupted, gaining his attention but not his eye contact, “Thank you, from both Sam and I, I can tell you care about him, so thank you,” She said sincerely, a smile gracing her face.

At this, Grizz finally rose his head to look at her and nodded in acknowledgement. He turned to leave again but stopped himself so that he could look back at her and Sam.

“Congrats by the way,” He said, a genuine smile forming.

“On what?” She asked feigning ignorance and subconsciously crossing her arms.

“You’ll be an amazing mother, especially with Sam by your side.”

“But how did you-?”

“Don’t worry too much, okay?” He finished before finally walking away, tying his hair up into a top bun as he did. Becca couldn’t help the astounded expression on her face and the way her mouth hung open. A grunt from her left reminded her of Sam; he was mumbling to himself as he pulled Grizz’s jacket closer and tighter as though he could tell that he had left.

Becca shook her head and clambered into bed, only stopping to remove both her and Sam’s shoes. She cuddled up behind Sam and pulled the blanket up to her waist, wriggling slightly to get comfortable as exhaustion took over.

 

* * *

 

The next morning found everyone sombre and gathered around the kitchen island, mugs of tea and coffee in hand, all except Sam that is.

“How is he?” Grizz asked, concern clearly written on his face and his attention removed from his quickly cooling coffee.

Everyone looked to Becca for an answer.

“He seemed okay, talked in his sleep a little but he always does,” She explained sounding hopeful. Gentle footsteps from above alerted the room of Sam as he stepped downstairs rubbing at his sore eyes.

‘Hey,’ he signed, waving with one hand, ‘What’s going on?’

As Sam fully entered the room, it was then that they all realised he was swaddled up in Grizz’s football jacket from last night, the fabric loose on his smaller frame,

“We were just making coffee if you wanted any?” Allie said as she signed, filling the silence and shooting the others a quick side look.

‘If you don’t mind,’ he signed, still having yet to use his voice. That seemed to set the others in motion as Will stood to grab him a mug and Gordie gathered the milk from the fridge.

“Still lots of milk?” Allie asked almost rhetorically, a cheeky smirk gracing her lips as she poured it into the mug,

‘Of course.’ Sam responded, his own smile appearing as he plodded over to the table to stand between a similarly standing Grizz and a seated Becca.

As Allie placed his drink before him, he raised the mug with both hands to sip from it slowly, his fingers barely visible beneath the too-long sleeves of ~~his~~ Grizz’s jacket. He shifted to hold it with one hand so that he could sign.

‘I saw that there’s a meeting today?’ He motioned to Gordie’s phone that sat atop the counter, ‘Everyone’s talking about it.’

Gordie was about to speak when Allie cut in.

“It’s not anything too important, why don’t you head to the cafeteria for some breakfast? I’m sure Becca would gladly join you, right?”

“Definitely,” Becca said while signing,

“You know me, I’m always hungry.” She stood as she finished speaking and hooked her arm through Sam’s free one. Sam’s smile widened at that and he signed a quick ‘sure’ to her before downing the dribble of coffee left in his mug and turning to leave with her.

Before leaving, Becca slipped away to pull on her shoes in the living room and Sam remained to wait in the hallway, his hands tucked away into the pocket of Grizz’s Letterman. It was that action that made him look back into the kitchen at Grizz whose attention was on him despite the conversation he could see going on. He gave a strained but kind smile to Grizz and indicated for him to come over, sidestepping so that they weren’t visible by the house’s occupants.

“Thank you,” Sam whispered, one hand reaching up to sign out of habit.

“Your jacket’s comfy,” He added jokingly yet sincere, speaking directly to Grizz and signing as an afterthought. That managed to bring a laugh out of the taller boy and _oh how did Sam wish he could hear his laugh_.

“You look good in it,” Grizz flirted, his eyes lighting up at the thought that Sam didn’t resent him after last night’s events. They stood there for a moment, a comfortable silence between them and smiles on each of their faces. Grizz’s head snapped to the right as he heard movement from one of the other rooms and Sam reached forward with both hands to rest them against his chest.

“It’s okay,” He said, signing with one hand. That drew Grizz’s attention back to him causing his startled expression to soften.

“Okay,” Grizz signed, his smile returning and despite the incoming footsteps he could hear, he leaned forward to softly kiss Sam, giving him the chance to pull away. Instead, Sam leant forward, reaching up onto the tips of his toes and kissing Grizz with just as much passion. His hands travelled from the taller boy’s chest to his hanging hair, his fingers tangling in the soft brown locks. Grizz’s arms wound their way around Sam’s waist and his hands clenched at his own jacket, pulling Sam flush to his body.

After what seemed like a lifetime, they pulled back for air and Sam nudged his face into the crook of Grizz’s neck to hug him, squeezing tightly. Grizz followed, tucking his face into Sam’s shoulder and gripping him close, a wide grin taking over. Even as Becca appeared in the doorway having finished putting her shoes on, they stood there, holding each other and never wanting to let go.

It was only when Sam’s stomach grumbled that Grizz stood back, laughing gleefully while a blush crept up Sam’s neck.

“Why don’t we go get that breakfast that Allie suggested?” He teased, holding out his hand for Sam to take.

“I’d love to,” Sam answered, happily taking Grizz’s hand while also offering his arm to Becca for her to grip onto. She shook her head and released chuckle before grasping onto the offered arm.

“C’mon love birds,” She said as she dragged them out of the door and towards the school, Grizz closing the door behind them. As they walked to the cafeteria, Becca couldn’t help the adoring grin that appeared as she watched the two boys tease and laugh with each other. She had never seen Sam so happy and she hoped that despite their current situation with both the baby and New Ham, that he and Grizz could stay blissfully happy together. But for now, she was hungry.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it. I just couldn't resist writing it down as soon as I saw the prompt. I'm sorry if any of the medical jargon or information is incorrect and I would love for someone who knows more than me to correct me. I plan to make a series or collection of these kinds of fics so leave any suggestions of fics or one-shots that you want to see.  
> I hope I managed to portray the characters well and if you enjoyed my work be sure to drop a comment and leave kudos if you want some more. 
> 
> Peace out, Charlie 
> 
> I have a Wattpad account: @TheArthurianAuthor  
> And a Tumblr account: @mycolourswillnotfade  
> Check it out if you're interested


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